Population-level lateralized aggressive and courtship displays make better fighters not lovers: evidence from a fly

•We studied lateralization of aggression and courtship in lekking Bactrocera oleae flies.•Both aggressive and courtship acts were left-biased at population level.•Left-biased aggressions led to greater fighting success over right ones.•Left-oriented courtship acts did not led to higher mating success.•Population-level left-biased displays may be connected to the prolonged social interactions of lekking flies.

Lateralization (i.e., left–right asymmetries in the brain and behavior) of aggressive and courtship displays has been examined in many vertebrate species, while evidence for invertebrates is limited. We investigated lateralization of aggressive and courtship displays in a lekking tephritid species, the olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae. Results showed a left-biased population-level lateralization of aggressive displays, with no differences between the sexes. In both male–male and female–female contests, aggressive behaviors performed with left body parts led to greater fighting success than those performed with right body parts, while no differences in fighting duration were found. Olive fruit fly males also showed a side bias during courtship and mating behavior, courting females more frequently from the left than the right, front, or back sides. No differences were detected between courtship duration and copulation duration following the different male directional approaches. Male mating success was comparable whether females were approached from the left, right, front, or back side. Lateralized aggressive and courtship displays at the population-level may be connected to the prolonged social interactions occurring among lekking flies. Further research is needed on possible benefits arising from lateralization of courtship traits in insects.